St Paul's Church, Wordsworth Avenue
Encyclopedia
St Paul’s Church is situated within the English city of Sheffield
on Wordsworth Avenue in the northern suburb of Parson Cross. St Paul’s is a modern looking post war church which has been designated as a Grade II listed building.
in the late 1940s as the City of Sheffield cleared its slum
housing and expanded into the countryside. The church was designed by the Scottish
architect
Basil Spence
who was forced to work with a limited budget. Spence was working on his most famous design Coventry Cathedral
at the same time that he was overseeing the construction of St Paul’s.
When St Paul’s was opened in 1959 it did not have its own parish
and was purely a daughter church to St. Mary‘s, Ecclesfield
. However the area around St Paul’s was declared a Conventional District within the Ecclesfield parish and in 1973 the separate parish of St Paul, Wordsworth Avenue was created. The new housing estate never had an official name, so the parish is one of the few which is identified by its street address rather than by its district. The parish was badly hit by the collapse of the Sheffield steel industry in the 1980s and a high level of unemployment was created and today “New Parson Cross is part of one of the most deprived areas of the city”.
roof strengthened by diagonal steel bracing. The ends of the church consist almost entirely of glass
with Spence integrating some the ideas he had used at St Oswald’s, Tile Hill
in 1957. To the front of the church is a 15 metre high campanile
consisting of just two brick walls with concrete ties in between. There is a six metre cross on top of the campanile. The church hall stands just to the north within the church grounds. The interior has a balcony reached by steps on which the organ stands. While the altar is screened to give it some privacy from the big end window by a hardwood panel made from African Teak
. Spence’s personal gift for the church were the altar ornaments which are made from hammered iron.
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
on Wordsworth Avenue in the northern suburb of Parson Cross. St Paul’s is a modern looking post war church which has been designated as a Grade II listed building.
History
St Paul’s was opened in 1959 to serve the New Parson Cross estate which had been constructed on previous greenfield landGreenfield land
Greenfield land is a term used to describe undeveloped land in a city or rural area either used for agriculture, landscape design, or left to naturally evolve...
in the late 1940s as the City of Sheffield cleared its slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
housing and expanded into the countryside. The church was designed by the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Basil Spence
Basil Spence
Sir Basil Urwin Spence, OM, OBE, RA was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Modernist/Brutalist style.-Training:Spence was born in Bombay, India, the son of Urwin...
who was forced to work with a limited budget. Spence was working on his most famous design Coventry Cathedral
Coventry Cathedral
Coventry Cathedral, also known as St Michael's Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry, in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The current bishop is the Right Revd Christopher Cocksworth....
at the same time that he was overseeing the construction of St Paul’s.
When St Paul’s was opened in 1959 it did not have its own parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
and was purely a daughter church to St. Mary‘s, Ecclesfield
Church of St. Mary, Ecclesfield
The Church of St. Mary, Ecclesfield is situated on Church Street in the village of Ecclesfield, now a northern suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is situated seven kilometres north of the city centre. It is a Grade One listed building, one of only five within the Sheffield city...
. However the area around St Paul’s was declared a Conventional District within the Ecclesfield parish and in 1973 the separate parish of St Paul, Wordsworth Avenue was created. The new housing estate never had an official name, so the parish is one of the few which is identified by its street address rather than by its district. The parish was badly hit by the collapse of the Sheffield steel industry in the 1980s and a high level of unemployment was created and today “New Parson Cross is part of one of the most deprived areas of the city”.
Architecture
Spence’s design for St Paul’s is quite simple although this is not obvious at first glance. The church is basically two brick walls joined by a shallow barrel vaultBarrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
roof strengthened by diagonal steel bracing. The ends of the church consist almost entirely of glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
with Spence integrating some the ideas he had used at St Oswald’s, Tile Hill
Tile Hill
Tile Hill is a suburb in the west of Coventry, West Midlands, England.It is mostly residential and partly industrial, with some common land and wooded areas....
in 1957. To the front of the church is a 15 metre high campanile
Campanile
Campanile is an Italian word meaning "bell tower" . The term applies to bell towers which are either part of a larger building or free-standing, although in American English, the latter meaning has become prevalent.The most famous campanile is probably the Leaning Tower of Pisa...
consisting of just two brick walls with concrete ties in between. There is a six metre cross on top of the campanile. The church hall stands just to the north within the church grounds. The interior has a balcony reached by steps on which the organ stands. While the altar is screened to give it some privacy from the big end window by a hardwood panel made from African Teak
Pericopsis elata
Pericopsis elata, the African Teak, Afromosia, or Afrormosia, is a species of legume in the Fabaceae family.It is found in Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Nigeria....
. Spence’s personal gift for the church were the altar ornaments which are made from hammered iron.